A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. The magnetic stripe, sometimes called swipe card or magstripe, is read by swiping past a magnetic reading head, such as a P.O.S.
Financial institutions provide a variety of cards, such as credit cards, debit cards and the like. Merchants also provide gift cards or the like. A vast majority of these cards have magnetic stripes and are known as magnetic cards. There are up to three tracks on magnetic cards known as tracks 1, 2, and 3. Track 3 is virtually unused by the major worldwide networks, and often isn't even physically present on the card by virtue of a narrower magnetic stripe. Point-of-sale card readers almost always read track 1, or track 2, and sometimes both, in case one track is unreadable. The minimum cardholder account information needed to complete a transaction is present on both tracks. Track 1 has a higher bit density, and is generally the only track that may contain alphabetic text, and hence is the only track that contains the cardholder's name.
Furthermore many hotels and other institutions including office buildings generate security or access cards in order to allow authorized personal to enter their hotel rooms, institutions or office buildings. There is a general concern to provide only the authorized personal with the security passes.
There have been a variety of prior art devises mid methods to improve the security of the above mentioned cards and particularly financial institution cards. For example security codes or PINs, such as a sequence of 4 numbers for examples can be a required input into a P.O.S. terminal before completing a transaction. However this is not foolproof as security codes can be stolen. Moreover in many cases and in many jurisdictions PINs are not used. Also some cards have chips embedded into the cards or include RFID devices. One chip card technology relates to Europay, Master card, Visa known as EMV.
Other attempts to improve the security of financial transactions are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,645,213 which show methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for transactions associated with a mobile device. The method includes, in a merchant device linked to a server by a first network, sending a registration to the server, sending a transaction message to the server, receiving a unique identifier from the server in response to the transaction message, broadcasting the unique identifier, in response to the broadcasted unique identifier, receiving instructions in the server from a mobile application residing in a memory of a mobile device over a second network, processing a transaction in response to the instructions, and notifying the merchant device of the processed transaction.
Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 8,348,159 shows a wireless financial transaction instrument, such as a card, that has a magnetic stripe, a display, and an on-board power supply, such as a battery, and is usable with a dual capture point of sale terminal. Information is received by such a terminal from the card wirelessly, and also from the magnetic stripe, and the data received contactlessly is preferably used to verify that read from the stripe. The display can display the account number on command, or to display a current balance, or amount of credit remaining, or any combination of these items of information.
Moreover U.S. Pat. No. 8,584,938 illustrate a wireless transaction medium having combined magnetic stripe and radio frequency communications.
Finally U.S. Pat. No. 8,469,277 shows methods, systems, and computer program products for acquiring payment device data for wireless payment transactions. According to one method, a request from a wireless payment reader for standardized payment device data for effecting a wireless payment is received by a wireless smart payment device. Payment device data elements are assembled by the wireless smart payment device into the standardized payment device data. The standardized payment device data are sent by the wireless smart payment device to the wireless payment reader.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved payment device and method and system to improve the security of payment using magnetic cards or tap and go cards or RFID devices.